Preliminary Evaluation of Drip Irrigation System Performance in Watermelon Cultivation

Abstract

In watermelon production, irrigation is the most significant factor in achieving good yields. Properly selecting an irrigation system may provide successful irrigation for excellent crop quality and productivity. Drip irrigation is a popular approach for this purpose. Drip irrigation can successfully deliver water to plants based on the amount required by the crop. However, this irrigation system's performance should be investigated to guarantee that it can run in the best possible conditions. This study aimed to assess the preliminary version of drip irrigation for watermelon crops. The field experiments were conducted on a watermelon planting plot at MARDI Kundang Selangor. The drip irrigation system performance was evaluated based on hydraulic parameters such as coefficient uniformity (CU), emission uniformity (EU), coefficient of variation (CV), and emitter flow variation (EFV) according to ASAE standards. The results indicate that CU is in excellent classification, with a CU efficiency greater than 91 per cent. The EU value was 86%, showing a reasonable variety. However, the CV value was 0.1, indicating a marginal classification. Meanwhile, the emitter flow variation (EFV) is 19% which is considered acceptable. The results of this preliminary study showed that the performance of this drip irrigation system is satisfactory, as the hydraulic parameters evaluated met the ASAE standard's minimum classification requirements. The distribution of discharge data was similarly shown to have no significant difference using a one-sample t-test, with a p-value of 0.096.